I know this is going to send many of you through the roof but.....

What do people think about about making the "Wild and Scenic" Skagit system a fly only C+R fishery for natives only yeararound. No fishing from boats etc. Time on the water would be obtained in a managed lottery system held by WDFW (OK so maybe thats expecting too much from our flawless government).

The fishing could be phenomenal and people would come from all over the world to see this incredible river. Guides would have to adapt but many are already avid flysters. Seattle City Light would have to comply with serious flow manadates etc etc. I could be dreaming but this could be a reality. Think about it! Seriously!

fly only??!??! Thats great we try to keep it open for everyone and one user group wants it to themself. Just great. How about a no fly area hehe . How about selective gear

tight lines

Kevin

Your smokin' somthin' bud and being awful stingy with it!!!! Locals up here would never let that happen. They'd rather see the river closed. "Wildcater BS"
Another serious flaw with your dream is, put everyone on the bank and guess where the most accessable wading spots are...On the reds in tailouts. The one thing that absolutely drives me nuts is watching guys fish on the reds.
Sorry to shatter your dream Brah'. Might be nice to see though.
Better yet hows about everyone signing that petition going around to make a permanent C&R season on our wild fish. Just think ten years from now the Skagit could see the runs of 10,000 fish again.

Making a river as big as the Skagit "fly only" and "no boats" doesn't make much sense. And Johnny beat me to it; the only accessible fish would be those sitting on redds in the margins of tailouts in April and May.

And since the tailouts are the only accessible reaches for bug tossers, there wouldn't be many conflicts with boat traffic, so why exclude them. And why would you need a lottery for such a hugh river. Oh yeah, because everyone would be crammed into the tailouts. Too much of the resource would be wasted from a users view. Why manage a river of this size when so little of it could be utilized.

Now if the North Fork Stilly were to go fly only year round, I could go for that. I rarely have the opportunity to go after winter brats with the bug rod. C&R of wild fish should be a given.

[This message has been edited by obsessed (edited 11-17-2000).]

This is good, input from both sides. Let's keep it up, meet in the middle and agree on things. The sportsfishers have to unite, the fish need to survive.

It's a Big River. There should be room for us all (except for the brats).

I don't think it would be practicle or desireable to make the entire system C&R FF only. Bank fishing only would be interesting to introduce. Reagrding the comments about FFer only being able to fish the tail outs and tromping on the redds that sounds like wildcater BS. As States biologists the majority of the nates spawn after the closure. But to further the cause of nates if the numbers are that low close the system and state wide release on Nates.

Being first most a long rod (fly guy) I do not think this is a good idea. I love the Skagit, and would never advocate a restriction like this for a big river the size of the Skagit. And having taken up float and jig fishing this year (this is a fun way to fish) I think this would be a dumb idea. just my 2 cents, thanks.

While I might be considered biased because I fish both rods ... I don't think such regs are beneficial. While I'd certainly support 'artificials-only'. The 'fly-only' and 'no boats' type of regs will undoubtedly limit the number of areas that can be fished effectively ... thereby placing all the river traffic in just a couple of spots rather than keeping people spread out. I don't think anyone would like the results of everyone piling into the same area.

Good conversations here.
As a fly only guy i believe that fly only water on our magor rivers would not be in our best interests as to unifying our sport fishing Interests. We would loose many a folk in the cause for catch & release on wild fish. But one thing that must be done and is done on many rivers in Oregon is single barbless hook and no bait fishing. I've never hered of any complaints about no bait on the Deschutes River. Seems like lure and fly guys agree that this type of Steelhead fishing is compatible and a safer way of handeling C&R. I know Bait guys will disagree but I feel they have the ability and knowledge to make changes to make C&R more viable.

Ripple,

Johnny Coho is right; you're smokin' some strange stuff! A proposal like serves only to create divisiveness among the sportfishing ranks. And Bob makes a good point that all who wanted to fish the Skagit would then be concentrated on the same suitable fly water. There just isn't any upside to such a proposal.

(And to Johnny and any others who think the fly guys are limited to fishing over steelhead redds in tailouts, I'd be pleased to have you join me one day this winter and learn just how misguided your opinion is.)

A big river like the Skagit does have an abundance of good fly water, which is probably why it is so popular among the fur-N-feather crowd. But the simple fact remains that it has ever so much more boon-doggin' water, literally miles at a time. Which is maybe why that is the most popular method used on that river.

Given the current news that the C&R season will be closed, it's important to seek suggestions that unite our common interests rather than dividing them. Much as I like fly fishing, I shudder at the thought of having to accomodate all the instant converts that would show up on Sauk Bar. Not a pleasant vision!

More to the point, Ripple, consider the intent of any specific management regulation or tool. If conservation is the goal, we already know that wild steelhead C&R is consistant with that outcome. As I've written before, the native Skagit steelhead run increased from its all time low in the mid to late 70s during C&R seasons beginning in 1981 and peaking in 1986. The population is doing as well as it can do under the environmental conditions it has experienced during the last 15 years. Eliminating the C&R fishery this year, as occurred in 92, is irrelevant to the outcome, as measured in steelhead production.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Dont think so ripple. Perhaps your tactic just to raise a few feathers,eh. Fly Only, No boats. Ya, lets make the Puget Sound bank access only too. When it comes to C&R regs how does my barbless spoon, spinner, drift gear-do more damage then a barbless fly-that is more apt to be swallowed.

Good comments, Coho I agree with your point, but I disagree that a swinging fly is more liable to be swallowed. I love to catch steelhead on the fly, I still drift fish for the winter hatchery run, but fly fishing is my prefered method the rest year. I agree that we should not make restricions that divide one method over the other. I also think the walking or fishing on redds argument is bs, Most FF's I know are pretty ethical about this. If one would like to disagree I wonder how much anchor dragging contributes. Not bigger rivers like Skagit but, I can think of a few of mid to smaller size rivers that would lend itself useful to boats as transportation only regulation(for example the Green). I'm sure a lot bankies would appreciate such a regulation.